Cultivator.



No. 783,479. PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905.

E. M. SWANSON.

CULTIVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8,1904.

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'ilil i lgg No. 783,479. I PATENTED FEB 28, 1905. E, M. SWANSON.

GULTIVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8,1904.

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NITED STATES Patented February 28, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

CULTIVATOFI.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,479, dated February28, 1905.

Application filed J 11118 8, 1904. Serial No. 211.682.

I 0 all whom, it pea/y concern/.-

Be it known that I, ELMER M. SwANsoN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Blue Rapids, in the county of Marshall and State of Kansas,have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Cultivators, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cultivators, and has for its object to producecertain improvements in the mechanism of each gang, whereby the draftshall tend to hold the cultivating appliances in the ground at theirfull depth.

A further object is to produce means whereby the cultivating appliancescan be locked in 7 their raised or inoperative position, so that thedraft on the machine shall be utilized solely for its propulsion.

A still further ob ect is to produce a machine of the character outlinedwhich is of suitable, strong, durable, and inexpensive construction.

To these ends, and others, as hereinafter appear, the invention consistsin certain novel and peculiar features of construction and organization,as hereinafter described and claimed, and in order that it may be fullyunderstood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 represents a plan view of one gang of a straddle-rowcultivator, a portion of the connecting-plank (broken away) being alsoshown. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 11 ll of Fig. 1and showing the cultivating appliances in operative position. Fig. 3 isa view similar to Fig. 2, butwith the cultivating appliances occupyingtheir inoperative position. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section inthe plane of the rock-shaft.

Referring to the drawings in detail, where like reference charactersdesignate corre sponding parts in all the figures, 1 designates thetongue, and 2 a skeleton frame occupying approximately a horizontalplane and of substantially diamond shape with the corners cut away, andsaid frame is formed of a single bar bent to the shape shown clearly inFig. 1 with its rear portion overlying the tongue and its front portionterminating in parallel arms 3, bolted to the sides of the tongue, therear portion being bolted to a bracket 4, secured to the tongue.

5 designates parallel arches which extend longitudinally of the machineat suitable distances from the tongue and are secured rigidly to saidframe for the purpose of holding the seat-plank 6 down upon the latterwhile permitting the usual pivotal and longitudinal movement of saidplank. 7 designates brackets bolted to the side portions of the frameand depending therefrom and formed at their lower ends with circulareyes 8 as journals for the hollow rectangular rock-shaft 9, saidrock-shaft being provided with spring-cotters 10 close to the brackets,so as to prevent longitudinal movement of the shaft.

11 designates ground-wheel arms secured rigidly at their upper ends inany suitable manner to the rock-shaft and equipped at their lower endswith the customary ground-wheels 12. 13 designates arms secured rigidlyat their upper ends to said shaft and diverging rearwardly with respectto arms 11, and 1a designates arms longitudinally and rotatablyadjustable in arms 13 in a well-known manner and bolted at their rearends to castings 15, equipped with shafts 16, on which are journaled andsecured in any suitable manner cultivating-disks 17.

18 designates castings secured rigidly on the rock-shaft and carrying inany suitable manner the beams 19, equipped with the customary plows orshovels 20, and in order that said plows may be disposed centrallybehind the disks they are bent laterally, as at 21. By thus bendingthese beams it is obvious that they can be disposed as shown in Fig. 1when cultivating the field the first time-that is, when the plants areyoung. On the second cultivating operation, when the plants are olderand-the disks are therefore disposed farther apart to turn the soilinward instead of out ward, as in Fig. 1, the beams are reversed, sothat their bent portions will diverge rearwardly and inwardly instead ofrearwardly and outwardly, as shown, this reversing being accomplished byremoving them and placing the one formerly occupying the right-hand sideof the machine on the left and the one formerly occupying the left-handside on the right. By so doing it will be apparent that the shovels canbe caused to follow directly in line with the disks at all times, itbeing understood, of course, that when the beams are reversed theircastings 18 are disposed outward upon the rock-shaft of arms 13 insteadof inward, as shown in Fig. 1. This adjustment of the disk-arms andplow-beams, however, is common in this class of machines and need not befurther dwelt upon.

22 designates a notched sector secured to the inner arm 3 of the frame,the inner arm being that nearest the driver, and secured, by preference,by the same bolts which secure the arms 3 to the tongue, and 23designates an inclined brace which extends from the foremost of saidbolts at the right-hand side of the tongue to the sector.

24: designates a lever mounted on the bolt forming the axis of thesector and provided with the usual latch mechanism 25 to lock the leverat the desired point of adjustment with relation to the sector, and saidlever bends inwardly, as shown, to within convenient reach of thedriver. The lever is provided with a foot portion 26, and bolted rigidlyto said portion is an arm. 27, pivotally connected, as at 28, to theupper end of a link 29, which link is bent inwardly at its lower end, soas to underlie the tongue, and at such end it is pivoted, as at 30, to abar 31, which forms alternately a stub-tongue and a lever, the rear endof the bar being rigidly secured to the rock-shaft, as at 32, or in anyother suitable manner.

33 is a clevis pivoted, as at 30, t0 the forward end of bar 31 andequipped with the doubletree 34, to which the draft-animals are hitchedin the customary manner.

WVhen the machine is traveling to and from the field, and therefore notperforming its cultivating function, lever 2 L is depressed, thedepression of said lever throwing bars 27 and 29 in alinement andcausing bar 31 to act as a lever and operate the rock-shaft downwardlyand rearwardly,which action raises the cultivating appliances and rollsthe groundwheels to a position approximately vertically below therock-shaft in order that the machine may travel with a minimum offriction, the latch mechanism holding said parts in the positiondescribed.

l/Vhen the cultivating operation is to begin, the driver trips the latchmechanism and instantly the weight of the parts cooperates with thedraft on the clevis and the forward push upon the lever by the driver inlowering the cultivating appliances to operative position and swingingthe ground-wheels forward a sufficient distance to impose most of theweight of the machine and the driver upon the cultivating appliances.

If it is desired to cultivate as deep as possible, the driver in anysuitable manner holds the latch mechanism out of engagement with thesector, and in consequence the draft is imposed on bar 31 slightlyupward of the line of its length, the result being the draft alone issufficient to hold the cultivating appliances as deeply embedded as itis possible to force them. The machine with the parts thus disposedcrosses ditches in a flexed condition, and consequently no injuryresults to the plowbeams when dropping into the ditches, as only ayielding resistance is opposedto their upward movement incontradistinction to the unyielding resistance which is offered when thelever is latched.

W hen itis desired that the cultivating applie ances shall operate atless than their full depthfor instance, when cultivating the first timeover or when the condition of the soil dictates the advisability of suchshallow cultivationthe driver latches the lever at the proper point ofadjustment on the sector.

WVhen it is desired to elevate the cultivating appliances, the team isstopped, so asto eliminate the draft as a resistance to such elevatingaction, making it necessary for the driver to only raise the usualweight.

From the above description it will be apparent that l have produced acultivator embodying the features of advantage enumerated as desirablein the statement of invention, and while I have illustrated anddescribed the preferred embodiment of the same it is to be understoodthat I reserve the right to make such changes in the form, proportion,detail construction, and arrangement of the parts as shall not be adeparture from its spirit and scope or sacrifice any of its advantages.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, isv 1. In acultivator, atongue, a framesecured thereto, brackets carried by the frame, a rockshaft journaled inthe brackets and equipped with rigid ground-wheel-carrying arms andcultivating appliances, a bar projecting rigidly from the rock-shaft andunderlying the tongue, a lever suitably mounted and provided with an armprojecting at an angle to the body portion of the lever, and a linkpivotally connecting said arm with the front end of the bar rigidlysecured on the rock-shaft.

2. In a cultivator, a tongue, a frame thereon, brackets carried by theframe, a rock-shaft journaledin the brackets and rigidly equipped withground-wheel-carrying arms and cultivating appliances, a bar projectingrigidly from the rock-shaft, means for swinging said bar downward tosimultaneously roll the ground-wheels rearward and elevate thecultivating appliances, and means for hitching the draft-animals to saidbar.

3. In a cultivator, a tongue, a frame thereon, brackets carried by theframe, a rock-shaft journaled in the brackets and rigidly equipped fromthe rock-shaft, a clevis pivotallyconnected to the front end of saidbar, a notched sector secured to the front end of said frame, a leverjournalcd axially of the sector, and provided with a latch mechanism forengagement with the sector, an arm projecting from the lever, and a linkpivotally connecting said arm with said bar.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of twoWitnesses.

ELMER M. SWANSON.

"Witnesses:

CARL L. SWANSON, R. H. SWANSON.

